FUCK prequels! I'm so sick of them, and I knew that this was going to happen (OK, so its not actually happened yet) It seems like every big series goes down this route. Make a big popular trilogy then make a disappointing / unimaginative prequel, see Gears of War, God of War and Halo.

Everybody knows the outcome of the first contact war and in the grand scheme of the Mass Effect universe, its not particularly interesting. It just seems like the most lazy, obvious place to take the series. Wouldn't it be way more interesting to see the state of the universe after the events of Mass Effect 3? But that would probably be way too much work due to the way they wrote themselves into a corner with the Mass Effect 3 ending.

All I can say is I hope that this is a mistake because the Mass Effect universe is too cool to waste time developing a lame, redundant prequel.

Reach was the best Halo game though.

That said I can't think of a way to do a Mass Effect prequel well while still maintaining what makes ME good. You can't introduce a ton of alien races and show a vast universe full of unexplored potential and then be like "nah just two races and the war between them for this one." Unlike most trilogies, I wouldn't mind going back for more ME, since it has such an expansive universe, so going back to a point where the universe is *smaller* makes no sense to me. Then again, it's only a rumor for now and I imagine we will know for sure at E3.

@TentPole: uhhh what? His first part, which this part is replying to comments to straight out calls, in his words, Arkham City super-duper sexist. It is. I still love the game, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't excuse the dialogue. I don't think anyone has ever convinced another side on an internet argument about sexism, racism, classism, etc, so I'm dropping out of this conversation. I will just say that I hope gamers get better at critical thought if they can't see the difference between how racial slurs are used in Gran Torino and American History X and how rape threats are used in Arkham City and Tomb Raider.

I hope this doesn't get lost under a torrent of "ITS NOT A BIG DEAL JEEZ" and "WELL THEY WERENT FORCED TO DO IT", but I really want to thank you for this, Patrick. My fiance is really into gaming as well but she is put off by a lot of sexist bullshit (Miranda's ass CONSTANTLY IN YOUR FACE, rape threats to Catwoman, etc) and she can't even game online for fear of harassment. I'm hoping this is another step forward to getting gamer culture a step forward and hopefully getting gamers to tackle the larger societal issues that cause these sort of things in the first place. So really, I thank you Patrick, and I hope more gaming journalist fall in line with these sorts of progressive ideals.

How is this sexist? WTF do you think a scumbag criminal is going to do? Respect her?

This is a terrible defense and this argument is a tired one. Honestly it wouldn't have even been so bad if it was said once or twice but hearing it every goddamn couple of minutes during the Catwoman sections is dumb.

Biologically speaking women are sex objects. Until the male brain is wired differently or we're all gay looking at half naked nathan drake cosplayers they will be objectified in all media for all time, obviously not ALL portrayals will fit this. Not to say men are any different. If the genitalia of both sexes could come off and go at it to propagate our species on it's own, the rest of us really wouldn't be needed, since the only point there are the two sexes is so we could survive. Not to sound like the caveman scientist here, but I just don't give a flying fuck anymore. Women buy a webcam, get their own site and then charge money to "objectify themselves" all the time. If you want to make fun of nintendo for being either sexist or plain out ignorant go ahead, I fully agree and laugh at the fact that they had ZERO 3ds stations. If you think during anyone's life time skin will stop being used to market anything and everything, I think you better not hold you breath. When the fuck do I get to get on my soap box(more aimed at general women being displeased than patrick here) saying how I hate every damn male character has a 6 pack and benches 300lbs with the bulge the size of an elephant in his pants? Or how he is supposedly smart, rich, funny, has ladies falling over him and is the action movie star dream? Do men just care less and women are too catty, or is it that men are protective of women so as soon as they say something we all fall over in defense of them?

Sorry bro you should have taken a right. This post is clearly meant for Reddit.

I hope this doesn't get lost under a torrent of "ITS NOT A BIG DEAL JEEZ" and "WELL THEY WERENT FORCED TO DO IT", but I really want to thank you for this, Patrick. My fiance is really into gaming as well but she is put off by a lot of sexist bullshit (Miranda's ass CONSTANTLY IN YOUR FACE, rape threats to Catwoman, etc) and she can't even game online for fear of harassment. I'm hoping this is another step forward to getting gamer culture a step forward and hopefully getting gamers to tackle the larger societal issues that cause these sort of things in the first place. So really, I thank you Patrick, and I hope more gaming journalist fall in line with these sorts of progressive ideals.